An experimental investigation of consistency of explanation and graph representation

Nana Kanzaki, Nagoya University

Kazuhisa Miwa, Nagoya University

Abstract

Many previous studies of graph comprehension have confirmed that
information gleaned from a graph is greatly influenced by its representation.
When explaining data with a graph, writers/researchers must generate graphs whose
representation is consistent with the explanation contents. In the current study,
we defined those who engage in academic activities using graphs on a daily basis
as expert graph users and investigated whether they and undergraduates
(non-experts) can adaptively generate a consistent graph with explanations from
the viewpoint of the consistency of the contents and graph representation.
Experiment 1 indicated that expert graph users adaptively generate a graph whose
structure is consistent with the explanation contents. On the other hand,
Experiment 2 suggests that undergraduates cannot do so. But in Experiment 3
undergraduates were supported by selecting graphs from provided candidates, but
there was a limited concordance between the type of explanation and graph
representation.